Russian Oligarch Battle over Sibneft Concludes in London

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has won a $6.8 billion lawsuit stemming from allegations that he bullied fellow oligarch Boris Berezovsky into selling shares at below market prices in Russian oil company OAO Sibneft and another Russian metal company.

Earlier this week, a court in London ruled in Abramovich’s favor after a three-month trial.

Abramovich and Berezovsky were the original founders of Sibneft, with Berezovsky largely viewed as Abramovich’s mentor back in the day.

In the end, politics separated the two, with Berezovsky, who enjoyed the ear of late Russian President Boris Yeltsin, fell out with Vladimir Putin during his first tenure as president. It was in the immediate aftermath of this split that Berezovsky said Abramovich “intimidated” him into selling his Sibneft shares below market value.